NORTHERN SUGAR INDUSTRY. 



63 



6. The best varieties of cane for our climate are Early Amber and Early Orange, 



7. The average length of working season with us is about sixty days. 



8. If the last two seasons were average seasons for our section of the country, I 

 think there is no doubt that we are entirely too far north for the successful man- 

 ufacture of sugar. But compared with the past these two seasons must be regarded 

 as quite abnormal, and if the climatic conditions previous to 1882 should obtain, I 

 think it would be safe, for the West at least, to place the northern limit of successful 

 sugar manufacturing as far north as the latitude of Chicago. 



Very respectfully, 



H. A. WEBER. 



Prof. H. W. Wiley, 



Washington, D. C. 



Professor Weber Bias also made some interesting experiments in re- 

 moving the beads from the sorghnm stalks as soon as they appear. In 

 all cases this procedure produced an increase in the sugars in the cane — 

 sensibly equal to the quantity of starch which would have been formed 

 had the heads ripened. 



This experiment, both as it relates to increase of sugar and to the 

 securing of the crop from the ravages of storms, is one of the greatest 

 importance to the future of this industry. 



EXPERIMENTS IN KANSAS. 



HUTCHINSON, KANS. 



The sugar works at Hutchinson, under the supei vision of Prof. M. 

 Swenson, made, during the season of Ic'-SS, 131,000 pouuds of sugar and 

 30,000 gallons of molasses. 



The soil in this part of Kansas, near the Arkansas River, is a sandy 

 loam, with a preponderance of sand. This excess of sand is so marked 

 that in some fields it is quite impracticable to plant sorghum until after 

 the season of spring winds has passed. The winds blow the sand with 

 such force that it acts like a sand-blast on the young plants, cutting them 

 off even with the ground. 



The summers and falls are generally dry. The soil, however, is so 

 loose that the roots of the plant grow deep. In one instance I was .in- 

 formed of a tap root having been traced to the depth of 10 feet. 



By reason of this depth of root the plant does not suffer greatly from 

 the drought. 



The dry weather of the fall season is peculiarly favorable to manu- 

 facture, and to drying the bagasse for fuel. 



I append a table of analyses of sorghum products made under the di- 

 rection of Professor Swenson. 



This table shows that ripe cane in Kan.^as may be expected to contain 

 more than 10 per cent, of sucrose. 



